Thoothukudi district is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. On 20 October 1986, an M. G. Ramachandran-led government bifurcated the Tirunelveli district to form the district. It is shared by its boundaries with the Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, and Virudhunagar districts and by the Gulf of Mannar in the Bay of Bengal. The district is like a mini India in shape. It is broad in the north and tapers towards the south. Thoothukudi is the headquarters and largest city of the district.